Influence of male morphology on male mating status and behavior during interunit encounters in western lowland gorillas.

Interunit, environmental and interspecific influences on silverback-group dynamics in western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)

Social Interactions Between Captive Adult Male and Infant Lowland Gorillas: Implications Regarding Kin Selection and Zoo Management

Interactions between unrelated and related silverback-infant dyads are compared in an attempt to assess the influence that kinship may have on male parental behavior. Observational data were collected on each member of two silverbackinfant dyads, in two separate enclosures at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL. The silverback was the father of the infant in one dyad, and unrelated to the infan...

Gang welfare

Our great-ape relatives are some of the most endangered species on the planet and gorillas are no exception. Taxonomists are not quite agreed on the status of some gorilla populations in central Africa but one group, the Cross River gorilla in Nigeria, is thought to be one of the most critically endangered species worldwide with an estimate of only around 150 individuals remaining. Its neighbou...

Behavioral responses of silverback gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) to videos.

This study examined the impact of video presentations on the behavior of 4 silverback, western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). On each of 5 occasions, gorillas viewed 6 types of videos (blue screen, humans, an all-male or mixed-sex group engaged in low activity, and an all-male or mixed-sex group engaged in agonistic behavior). The study recorded behavioral responses and watching ra...

Three-dimensional geometric morphometric analysis of talar morphology in extant gorilla taxa from highland and lowland habitats.

Western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) are known to climb significantly more often than eastern gorillas (Gorilla beringei), a behavioral distinction attributable to major differences in their respective habitats (i.e., highland vs. lowland). Genetic evidence suggests that the lineages leading to these taxa began diverging from one another between approximately 1 and 3 million years ago. Thus, gori...